Mural art project in Hempa elementary school

Hempa is an elementary school in Brumunddal, Norway. We got funding from “Den kulturelles skolesekken” to do a project where the students were part of an art project resulting in a permanent art piece in the school.

My biggest challenge was how to integrate the students in the whole process including the painting, but at the same time making a mural with artistic and decorative value for the future.

I started explaining the idea and the creative process behind and then I showed them different techniques and materials for wall painting. Everyone prepared a self portrait on paper which they later painted directely on the wall. I had already defined spaces for everyone’s portrait, as the idea was that the portraits were windows with children looking out of them.

In that way I was able to control the overall result, but also giving them freedom to paint with the the colours and materials they wanted. As they were part of the process they were all very interested and it was inspiring to see how curious they were on following the process from day to day.

The result is a corridor full of stories which keep changing in pace with your perspective, as you grow older, taller and wiser during the years in Hempa.

Hempa consists of several small buildings surrounded by deep forest and the river Brumunda. The area has an important tradition for fairy tales and myths based on the life of animals and people in the forest. Alf Prøysen, a writer and musician famous for his stories about the village life was born close the school exactely 100 years before. The fairy tales and Alf Prøysen’s writing was the main source of inspiration for this project. As 2014 was celebrated as the Alf Prøysen year, his work was already part of the teaching.